Border Crossings --- Good Bye Peru!

I got to Tacna, Peru, just north of the Peruvian-Chilean border today around 7am. I then caught a taxi to the international bus terminal, where I got into another taxi with three other people in it. The taxi driver helped us cross the border, which was a lot easier then I expected it would be. Then the taxi driver took us to the bus station in Arica, Chile. Before left the bus terminal I bought my night bus ticket for Calama, Chile. I also left my bags at a secure baggage area in the bus terminal and now I am out exploring Arica, Chile. Arica, is an interesting town. It is situated on the Pacific coast and it has everything that a larger city would have. Pedestrian malls, shopping centers, cultural areas, etc. It was really fun to explore. I even ended up getting some really good ice cream on the pedestrian mall. I strolled up and down the coast watching the waves on the Pacific. The waves were really, really big. Something about the weather and the seasons made these time the best time for waves and surfing on the northern coast of Chile, so lots of surfers were out and about. In Arica, there is a catholic church which was designed and built by Eiffel, the guy who designed and built the Eiffel Tower in Paris, entirely out of cast iron --- except the doors which were wood. Arica, like every city in South America had a large square as well. It had a really nice fountain in it which changed every few minutes. I spent most of my day sitting on a bench reading a book and enjoying the wonderfully warm sun. It was really quite relaxing. As the sun went down, I found a pizza place and had a really nice pizza. After the pizza I caught a taxi out to the bus station where I waited for my bus to Calama. I met a girl who is studying medicine in Argentina. She was on her way back from visiting her family in Peru during a school break. She showed me pictures of Arequipa, her home town, and we talked a lot about South America. When I went to get on the bus, I checked my bags, and for the first time in the entire trip, my bags were searched. It was very strange because I was not use to strangers going through my bags asking me lots of questions. They wanted to know where I was going, where I was coming from, why I had so many books, why I had so many bags, why I had a laptop, where I was from, etc. It was quite the process. They quite literally took everything out of my bag and inspected it. I felt quite violated, but secure --- I guess.